"Tornado-U" in Ukraine: good, but not enough
Improvised dumbbell "Valkyrie" on the platform "Tornado-U". The turret on the cabin roof is not self-made, but quite factory. Source: telegram.org
Long road of armor
How will the military vehicles of the Russian army change after the special operation? In the most optimistic scenario, any wheeled vehicle will receive a minimum anti-fragmentation armor. Military operations in the territory with stretched communications inevitably require additional protection for each vehicle.
This was especially acute during the first stage of the special operation in Ukraine, when there was practically no front line, and enemy troops were shelling the supply routes for the troops. It was then that not the most pleasant photographic evidence of handicraft armoring of KamAZ and Urals with logs and steel sheets appeared. Now the situation seems to be improving - there are fewer and fewer facts of the destruction of Russian trucks. This is largely due to the transition of the special operation to positional confrontation, when the supply columns are not so vulnerable.
How to locally book the "Ural" was known back in the USSR. The photo shows the exhibits of the Museum of military vehicles in Ryazan. Author: Vitaly Kuzmin.
No matter how trite it may sound, but the armored cabins of 80-90% of all road transport should become the gold standard of the Russian army. We are proud of the powerful "Grad" / "Tornado-G" rocket launcher, however, the basic carrier of this weapons - cargo "Ural", still not armored. The car is often used at the forefront, goes in a convoy with heavily armored vehicles, but does not deserve even minimal protection.
You can not talk about the equipment involved in the transportation of personnel and towing artillery at all - trucks are booked last. Now we are not talking about the Typhoon-K class MRAP - this is a high-tech and expensive technique used for completely different needs. By the way, there was a rhetorical question. And what would happen if the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation ordered several armored Urals instead of one Typhoon-K?
This is how all army KamAZ trucks in the NWO zone should look like. Source: telegram.org
Or at least so. Source: telegram.org
And so - all the "Urals". Source: telegram.org
Among the opponents of the total reservation of all army equipment, there are those who consider it redundant. Say, the enemy will know in advance about the specifics of the vehicles in the convoy and will prepare accordingly. Simply put, instead of AKM, he will take the Utyos or RPG. The answer is simple - additional booking is designed, among other things, for such an effect.
The enemy is forced to lose tactical mobility due to the weight of the wearable arsenal. Where before the bandits managed to get through with light weapons, now they will have to crawl through with "pocket artillery", up to ATGMs. From an RPG and a guided missile, you also need to hit a moving truck. And now a considerable part of the column of army equipment can be effectively fired from PKM.
Of course, this situation did not crystallize now - back in the days of Afghanistan, soldiers were forced to hang makeshift armor on their equipment. The Chechen campaigns initiated the appearance in the army of armored "Federals" of various stripes. However, this was not enough - most of the vehicles were received by the internal troops and later by the National Guard. Below are typical techniques for artisanal and completely factory armored army trucks.
We had to book equipment with our own hands already during the special operation. Source: telegram.org
The forehead of KamAZ is armored with the cover of the engine compartment of the MT-LB. Source: telegram.org
His Majesty "Typhoon-U"
The concept of using cabover KamAZ trucks in advanced army units has been criticized more than once. It's all about the design of the truck, which, for the role of a military man, pulls on a conditional three. KamAZ-4310, the ancestor of the modern Mustang family, is the military version of the civilian KamAZ-5320. There are several conceptual flaws. First of all, cabover layout, vulnerable to mine explosions and IEDs. The tilting cab does not allow you to effectively book the engine compartment, and tilting a multi-ton armored structure for maintenance is not a good thing.
The driver and passenger are protected in the front plane only by a thin frontal plating and glass. For small arms, this is not a problem at all. That is why the fighters in Ukraine have to hang logs on the nose of KamAZ, and sometimes armored parts from other equipment that have served their purpose.
The bonneted Ural, whose origins date back to the late 50s, was originally designed as a military vehicle capable of towing artillery pieces. The hood is both a protection against a mine under the wheel and an obstacle from gun bullets. The design itself makes it much more efficient to armor the cabin, as well as integrate it with the body, turning the car into an armored van, like the Ural-Vityaz for the National Guard.
The location of the cab behind the engine does not create obstacles for a two-row layout, which is very important, for example, when placing a mortar crew. The Urals implemented a double-cabin scheme using the Phlox self-propelled gun and the 2S12A Sani mortar complex as an example.
Don't see anything out of the ordinary? This is an experienced "Ural" with an armored manned compartment from KamAZ. Conceptual predecessor of "Motovoz" and "Tornado-U". Photo - Vitaly Kuzmin.
A few more search options for booking the Urals. Photo - Vitaly Kuzmin.
The modern army line of Ural Automobile Plant JSC
During the Soviet Union, there was a division of "duties" between tactical trucks "Ural" and KamAZ. The first always worked closer to the front edge, and the second remained in the relative rear. But the conflict in Afghanistan has already shown that all these conventions are useless - both Urals and KamAZ trucks are equally likely to fall under shelling at the front. And if so, it is very desirable that the crew is housed in a bonneted armored vehicle.
The situation is gradually changing, and literally last year, vehicles of the Tornado-U series of the Ural Automobile Plant began to appear in the troops. Do not confuse this technique with the stillborn MRAP "Tornado-U", which lost the competition with the car from Nizhny Tagil. Truck "Tornado-U" is a senior player in a wide range of trucks from Miass.
The Urals are supplying the Russian Guard with a protected Ural-Vityaz vehicle, which is a modernized version of the Ural-VV MRAP. In the range of unarmored vehicles, the most modern is the Ural with the Next cab. In fact, these are proven units of the 4320 series in a comfortable design. What is important, the car is not armored in principle, that is, it is intended for deep military rear. In 2019, the truck of the Motovoz-M series, featuring a frame-panel cab, was successfully tested. This is very important, as the flat cockpit panels make it easy to integrate armor.
Evaluate the Ural-4320-7810-31/30 model index - everything is in the best traditions of domestic naming. Like Next, Motovoz-M is presented in three versions - 4x4, 6x6 and extended to 9,5 meters 6x6. If you book "Motovoz-M", then the letter "O" is added to it. The total weight of the machines of the family can reach 21,5 tons with a maximum load capacity of 10 tons. And finally, the Ural-6370 "Tornado-U" with a frame-panel cabin, the possibility of booking and a gross weight of 33 tons.
The carrying capacity, depending on the version, is up to 16 tons, that is, this machine in the Soviet ranking table is even higher than the KrAZ. "Tornado-U" has already appeared in the special operation both onboard and as part of the TOS-2 "Tosochka" flamethrower system, so it's worth talking about it in more detail.
Gantrak Ural-63706-0122 "Tornado-U". Source: telegram.org
Even the armored "Tornado-U" needs to be improved. Source: telegram.org
In 2012, GABTU turned to the Ural automakers with a proposal to develop a family of unified army heavy trucks at its own expense. In 2014, they signed an agreement, and a year later, the car was presented at Army-2015.
Tornado-U is equipped with a 412-440-horsepower YaMZ-652 and (at the time of 2015) part of imported units: clutch - Sachs, manual gearbox and transfer case - ZF, Hungarian bridges Raba. Yes, and YaMZ itself is nothing more than a licensed Renault. In the future, the Urals promised to replace foreign components with domestic counterparts. It can be said for sure that the bridges near the Tornado-U unit are already Russian - last year a workshop with the corresponding production was launched in Miass.
The interior of the cabin "Tornado-U". Source: Science and military security. 2021. No. 1 (24)
Placement of equipment in a triple protected cabin:
1 - a place to place a first aid kit; 2 - thermos; 3 - a place for placing chemical reconnaissance equipment; 4 - a place for placing crew protective equipment (combined arms protective kit); 5 - fire extinguisher; 6 - night vision devices. Source: Science and military security. 2021. No. 1 (24)
1 - a place to place a first aid kit; 2 - thermos; 3 - a place for placing chemical reconnaissance equipment; 4 - a place for placing crew protective equipment (combined arms protective kit); 5 - fire extinguisher; 6 - night vision devices. Source: Science and military security. 2021. No. 1 (24)
The armored cab for the heavy Ural trucks Tornado-U and the younger brothers Motovoz-M was developed jointly with the Research Institute of Steel. It is planned to install three modifications of the cab on the machines - a standard single-row three-seater, an increased volume also for three crew members and a two-row five-seater.
By the way, in Ukraine the latest flamethrower system TOS-2 Tosochka, based on the Tornado-U chassis with a three-seater cabin of increased volume, has already been tested in battles. Each armored cabin is a combat module. The only thing missing is anti-mine seats with ceiling mounts and safety steps for passengers.
The cabin is sealed, equipped with air conditioning, night vision devices, a radio station, a dosimeter and chemical reconnaissance devices. It is possible to install an on-board information and control system and three surveillance cameras. Mirrors and armored glass with electric heating.
Ideal war chariots, of course, do not exist. You can only bring the machine as close as possible to real operating conditions. It seems that GABTU, Ural Automobile Plant JSC and Steel Research Institute JSC succeeded. It remains only to wait for the mass appearance of armored "Tornado-U" on the fronts of Ukraine. Moreover, machines can perform not only transport functions, but quite combat ones. Gantrak "Valkyrie" is a clear example of this.
Information